Page 44 of The Bet
“I think it’s too noisy for him to hear,” Jean remarked, and her husband suggested they go outside where it would be quieter.
Izzy got up so that Jacob could get out, and Xavier looked for the bodyguard who followed Jacob and his grandparents outside. When she sat back again, she buried her head in the menu, probably so she wouldn’t have to talk to him.
“So,” he said, making another attempt to find out. “What made you come back?” He watched the way her bangs fell forward, as if she was trying to hide under them.
“I came back for Jacob.”
“For Jacob?” he chortled. “Really?”
“Really,” she replied, then cocked her head, as if she had realized what he was getting at. “You didn’t think I came back for you, did you?” Her gaze turned from curious, to mocking. “Dude, you really should stop flattering yourself.” It was the first time he’d ever heard her usehisword, and his reading of body language books told him she was mirroring him.
This was a plus.
Ahugeplus.
She liked him, even if she didn’t know it yet.
She continued, “I’d already heard you were full of yourself, and I knew what to expect from you, but how is it that you still manage to surprise me every time I see you?”
He placed his elbows on the table, leaning forwards on the large table. “Isurpriseyou every time you see me?”
“Every single time. You’re so sure of yourself, so cocky, and arrogant, and vain.”
“Thank you.”
“And only a complete jerk like you would take that as a compliment.”
His reply sent her expression into a tail spin. Her nostrils flared, and she looked as if she was going to say more, but she held back. He grinned at her, knowing it would rile her up, because he liked getting her riled up. Because, from past experience, whenever he’d had a disagreement with a girlfriend, the make-up sex was always so much better than normal sex. He couldn’t wait to see what it would be like with Izzy, on both those counts.
Her lips pressed together tightly, making him wonder what it would be like to have her mouth on him, have her on her knees. He shook himself out of the trance.
“I don’t expect you to admit anytime soon that you like the idea of spending an afternoon with me … and Jacob,” he added as an afterthought, “but at least have the decency to own up to it so that we can stop beating around the bush.”
Her neck elongated, and her face jutted out a fraction. She looked to be in total shock or surprise, he wasn’t sure which. “This is really happening,” she said, talking to herself, “You really went there. Your ego is even bigger than I thought.”
“It’s not the only thing that’s big.”
She blinked rapidly a few times, her mouth opening as she shook her head. “Unbelievable. I can’t wait to tell Cara,” she mumbled, finally.
“Who the hell is Cara?” The idea that he was the butt of someone’s joke soon sobered him up. There was fun to be had in getting her worked up, but knowing she might be talking about him to others, that they might be laughing at him, pissed him off. It was bad enough that Tobias and Luke ganged up on him at every opportunity.
“Nobody you need to know, or worry about.”
Before he had a chance to say anything, dessert and Jacob and his grandparents arrived at the same time and their moment of bonding was over. She was mad though, rabid dog mad. He could see it on her face.
For some crazy ten second slot this morning at the pool, when he could see she didn’t want him to get into the water with her, he’d seen something in her eyes which he hadn’t been able to pinpoint. He hadn’t gotten in because he could sense her unease. And even now, she had surprised him. Most girls loved this kind of subtle dirty talk, but he could see that it did nothing for Laronde. He couldn’t even engage this woman into conversation without her wanting to put him down.
This wasn’t about his libido, and his magic touch, or not. There was something about Laronde, something hidden, something deeper, and the more she pushed away, the more he wanted to get to know her.
~ ~ ~
He was deplorable.
She’d never met anyone who’s head was stuck so far up his own ass that he couldn’t see daylight if it blinded him.
The only reason she had returned was because she didn’t feel right leaving Jacob with Xavier, even though his grandparents were with him.
After hearing his concerns about a sibling, about his fears that Tobias might not love him as much, it only struck her, as she got on the subway going home, that she was abandoning Jacob by leaving him with Xavier. Just because she herself wanted to avoid being around that obnoxious man, didn’t mean that the poor boy had to suffer.
